1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a protector for hands and figures such as gloves, fingerstalls, etc. and more particularly to a protector having an excellent strength and endurance which is made of a polyurethane film which has a moisture permeability.
2. Prior Art
The conventional gloves and fingerstalls used in a workshop, etc. are made by moulding rubber compound or rubber latex. Other type of gloves are made of polyethylene. The drawback in these gloves and fingerstalls is that they do not have enough moisture permeability, and during their use, sweat and heat build up inside the gloves or fingerstalls. As a result, the fingers change color to white. Particularly noted as a drawback and discomfort in the fingerstalls is that it can easily slip off the fingers. Further, with a repeated use during work, a decrease in the physical properties caused by fatigue occurs, and the gloves and the fingerstalls are easily broken. Thus, they lack the strength and endurance.
Presently, there are several different methods for obtaining waterproof cloth which is permeable to gaseous water such as moisture but is not permeable to liquefied water such as rain drops. In one method, a highly crystalline tetrafluoride resin is spread on a base cloth to provide thereon a microporous film. In another method, very thin threads are woven which are several tens of times denser than ordinary textile so that spaces between the threads are smaller than rain drops but larger than moisture particles. Another method is to coat a hydrophilic polymer, which easily absorbs and releases water, on a base textile.
On the other hand, in a method know to give a hydrophilic property to polyurethane polymer, polyoxyethyleneglycol or block copolymer of polyoxyethylene and polyoxypropylene is used for the polyol component. It is also known that by lightly cross linking isocyanate terminal prepolymer obtained from polyethyleneoxyglycol, which has a molecular weight of 4,000-25,000, and organic diisocyanate with an equivalent water or organic polyamine, one can produce polyurethanehydrogel having a water absorption capability of several times larger than its own weight.
However, when polyoxyethyleneglycol is used singly or in combination with polyoxypropyleneglycol or when a copolymer of these substances is put in use, it is likely that the moisture permeability of the polymer due to the absorption of water becomes larger compared to the content of polyoxyethylene. Thus, a remarkable strength decrease is observed during water permeance.